The 6th edition of the Kerala Literature Festival has been postponed to January 2023 according to fresh news from the KLF coordinators. In light of the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, the organizing committee has decided to reschedule the 2022 edition to 2023 after uncertainty regarding the event’s organization from the Government of Kerala.
“With the looming uncertainty in restrictions to the number of participants and crowd gatherings, it is unlikely that a literature festival with a footfall of more than 2,00,000 participants will be possible at the given moment,” the press note stated.
“For any big city, the beach and the shoreline is a great leveler that brings together people regardless of social standing, economic status, and backgrounds, it is in such a public and welcoming place that KLF is held and for that matter, KLF stands for the coming together of people from all walks of life to an event that aims to discuss and debate all things that concern the human consciousness.”
Kerala has been reporting around 15,000 – 20,000 cases daily in the past week, even though the daily fresh case count has steadily come down from the daily average of around 50,000 in late January.
The KLF organizing committee firmly believes that to organize the KLF stripped-down or in a lesser form is a mediocre attempt. The weather conditions of Calicut in the upcoming summer months are not appropriate for an open-air event as the Kerala Literature Festival. Moreover, the holy month of Ramadan might not be the perfect time to conduct an on-ground event.
The 6th edition of the Kerala Literature Festival has already been rescheduled twice, first from February 2022 to January 2022 as it was coinciding with the Kochi Biennale and then to March 2022 owing to the third wave of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The decision to postpone the KLF has been taken keeping in mind the safety of the readers, authors, and literary enthusiasts along with the interests of the book publishing industry.
